Thursday, 13 March 2014

An Untold Story of Success

Woman,
a word that whenever appears carries with itself a sea of stories. A
story of struggle, a story of discrimination, a story of freedom and
many such untold, unheard stories. Well, I have a different story to
tell today. The story of Women, Sports and Discrimination. Do you
even know that when the Olympics games began in 1896, not even a
single woman athlete was allowed to compete? And the most shocking
part of that Olympics was that, even if a woman was found watching
it, she was punished severely.

But
to find the gender discrimination in sports, we don’t have to go so
far since we have plenty of examples right at our homes. The very
sight of a barby doll fills our live barbies with delight. But have
you ever thought why we gift a baby girl with a doll and a baby boy
with a toy car or maybe a toy gun? Isn’t it a sort of
discrimination?? Just give it a thought!

However,
later the Olympics authority gave two explanations for excluding
women from Olympics;

Women
are not too healthy to compete

Not
all the women prefer playing everywhere, and if women seek to
participate in Olympics, a women’s sport has to be practiced
widely in not less than 25 nations

But
very soon the women cleared both these blocks and proved their
physical fitness first to prove their eligibility. In 1900, Olympics
allowed not more than 22 women to participate in Olympics but this
was a partial success. Why partial, because they could only compete
in two games viz. golf and tennis.

A long way to go!

Every
year since then, we can notice some changes in the criteria of
Olympics as far as a woman’s participation is concerned. And the
struggle continues till today. After declining many formal petitions
it is only in 2009 that the authority gave its approval to women ski
jumping. Ski jumping “seems
not to be appropriate for ladies from a medical point of view..”
said Gian Franco Kesper, the then-Ski Federation president (2005).

The
number of sports event for women keep on changing every year but with
terms and conditions applied. The women’s boxing event got accepted
by the IOC only in 2012. But with the condition that the women
competitors should wear skirts while playing since it would help the
authority distinguishing them from the male competitors since every
fighter has to wear a headgear during the competition. Whereas, some
nations found it more elegant.

However,
the London Olympics (2012) marked a remarkable increase in the
women’s participation. There were around 45% women participants it.
And almost 59 women participant won medals including 29 gold ones.
The figures suggest a positive and celebratory future for women in
Olympics or any of the sport event.

On their way to success!

But
despite of these promising figures there are a few Muslim nations
that still discourage their women athletes to prove their competency
publicly.

Recently,
the whole world celebrated International woman’s day on 8th March
and on 9th March, we witnessed Nagoya International Women's Marathon
that actually symbolizes women’s empowerment and their competency
in sport’s events.

The
20 or 30 minutes, that you enjoy watching a women’s tennis, boxing
or racing event, has behind it decades of struggle. The 20 or 30
minutes in which women try to give their best, prove their ability
has many decades of hard work, determination and of course many
untold
stories of struggle.